I've been a longtime reader and admirer of conservative columnist Joe
Sobran. Regrettably, in "Sobran's," his own newsletter,
he has gone beyond legitimate criticism of Israel. A tilt toward the Arab
position in the Israel/Arab conflict is fine and fair but Sobran takes
it a step further by stooping to dark references to sinister Zionist conspiracies.
Relying on notoriously anti-Jewish sources such as the "Institute
for Historical Review," Sobran has reduced himself to regurgitating
the same old anti-Semitic garbage that wafts out of the woodwork whenever
Israel is in the news. How sad and how pathetic, coming from such a great
intellectual, how sad and how potentially deadly.

Sobran

In his column "West Meets East, Again" (Sobran's 4/20/02) Sobran
blames Israel and American Jews for the attack on the World Trade Center.
He states, "The 9/11 attacks would never have occurred except for
the U.S. Government's Middle East policies [support for Israeli defense]
which are pretty much dictated by the Jewish-Zionist powers that be in
the United States. The Zionists boast privately of their power, but they
don't want the gentiles talking about it." I guess Sobran thinks
that "Zionists" get together somewhere [in the basement of the
Carnegie Deli perhaps?] where plots are hatched regarding how to fool
the "gentiles." The biggest supporters of Israel are actually
religious Christians. Most Americans support Israel out of a compassionate
understanding that the Israel/Arab conflict is nothing more than an attempt
by the vast oil rich Arab world to extinguish the tiny Jewish State. Maybe
Sobran thinks "gentiles" are too stupid to think for themselves.
Some Jew haters explain this sinister Zionist conspiracy with the contention
that prominent gentiles are actually secret Jews. In their fecund imaginations,
President George W. Bush may actually be George W. Bushowitz, who ran
for President against Al Gorenstein. I kid you not.

Sobran thinks that by advocating support of Israel "the Jewish lobby...strives
to cause the U.S.Government to act in ways that are directly contrary
to the interests - and moral principles - of most Americans." I suppose
Sobran may have a point here. If the U.S. abandoned Israel, and stood
by while the Jewish State was incinerated then yes, perhaps it might be
easier to extract more oil out of the Arabian Desert or to trade with
the Arabs. We could also make a few bucks by dropping the Cuban embargo
and we would've, no doubt, made a bundle trading with the Nazis. The clinker
in all of this for me is that Sobran views US support for Israel not only
as contrary to our "interests" but also contrary to a darkly
referenced "moral principle."

Sobran views Israel's raison d'etre as "the right of Jews to rule
gentiles" which he describes in classic leftist agitprop fashion.
He says that Israel seeks to "drive (gentiles) from their homes,
seize their property, and treat them as inferior beings." The way
this works is that whenever Israel acts to protect the lives and property
of its citizens from attack, they commit atrocities while Arab atrocities
against Jews are ignored or justified. Israel couldn't possibly be motivated
by the idea of preserving and protecting the political, national and cultural
rights of its people. That's because, according to Sobran "Zionism
means somewhat more than Jewish existence."

Drawing from a poisonous anti-Jewish tradition, Sobran views Judaism
as a race and Israel, probably the most racially diverse society in history,
as racially discriminatory. Judaism is not a race but a religion going
all the way back to the Biblical Ruth, the Moabite women, who converted
to Judaism. Anyone can become a Jew and people have chosen to do so in
every generation. Judaism is not a race but a covenantal faith that embraces
belief in one creator and the laws of the Torah. Anyone can immigrate
to Israel if they undergo a proper conversion to Judaism, a process that
generally takes one year. I should note that Judaism is not a proselytizing
faith.

The substance and tone of Sobran's writings on Israel and Judaism is
so filled with ugly innuendo that I hesitate to report on it out of concern
for fueling anti-Jewish feelings in those who are susceptible to this
line of thinking. Note that I avoid using the term "anti-Semitic"
as this term looms large in the anti-Jewish hagiography. As usual, if
this article is published, I will no doubt be subject to the usual barrage
of the most hallucinogenic anti-Jewish hate mail imaginable, which is
deeply depressing. As depressing as it is to report on Sobran's utterances,
and on this topic in general, I feel compelled, nevertheless, to do so
out of concern for the lives and future of my people.